Cantilever brakes on a CLEM smith L?

[Mackenzy Albright]

Hi everyone, 

I recently acquired a 64 clem L frameset that i'm in early stages of planning a build. I noticed it seems most people go for V-brakes. Which are quite simple and work fantastic. I currently do not have a set, and if possible would like to use as much from my parts bin as possible. 

My EVENTUAL goal is to run an antelope hill 700c with honjo flat 65 fenders. Cantilever's offer nicer flexibility around fender clearance. I've been debating trying to fit my MAFAC tandem cantilevers. However I realize the enormous frame would create an exceedingly long cable run from the stops, which I have heard can cause stuttering/wobble under braking. Or if there was any complicated installation issues. Mafacs are not the most adjustable, but they sure look great and work pretty well once set up.  

I was curious if any of you have set up cantilevers on your clem (or similar really really tall rivs) and how your experience has been. Alternatively if you've been able to fit a V-brake with a large tire and fender, also please share. 

Photos encouraged, please and thankyou. 

[Eric Daume]

The front brake can easily be solved with a fork mounted brake hanger. That will negate the height of the head tube. 

I’m not sure how you would route a canti to the rear of an L model. 

Eric

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[iamkeith]

Here's what I did for cantiliver brakes on my 56 Susie.   It has a ginormously long head tube - probably longer than the 64 Clem, and I detect no shudder.  (Not shown, but I can take a picture if necessary, is a typical drop hanger installed between the headset nuts.)   The rear hanger is a NOS item from ebay  - they used to be common for mixte style frames and seem readily available.  I modified mine by replacing an aluminum pulley with a brass one.

I too want to ultimately add fenders, in addition to or instead of these 2.8" tires, so V brakes are out of the question and canti brakes are the only possible way it will fit.  

That said, these brakes are fantastic!!   I had a vintage pair of shimano wide-profile canti brakes on my 59 clem, that this bike replaced, and they had nowhere near the stopping power.   I think I'd be reluctant to use mafacs for stopping power concerns alone, but there might even be some fit problems with them too, so check to see if it's even an option.  On the Susie, the posts were mounted at an irregular position to facilitate as wide of a rim as possible, but I can't remember if the Clem was the same.    Either way, post location standards have changed over time.  I've had a set of those mafacs  in my parts bin forever, and just can't find a way or a place to ever use them.  I think I tried on my quickbeam once, and they didn't actually fit.  

On Friday, March 4, 2022 at 12:04:03 PM UTC-7 Eric Daume wrote:

The front brake can easily be solved with a fork mounted brake hanger. That will negate the height of the head tube. 

I’m not sure how you would route a canti to the rear of an L model. 

Eric

On Friday, March 4, 2022, Mackenzy Albright <mackenzy...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi everyone, 

I recently acquired a 64 clem L frameset that i'm in early stages of planning a build. I noticed it seems most people go for V-brakes. Which are quite simple and work fantastic. I currently do not have a set, and if possible would like to use as much from my parts bin as possible. 

My EVENTUAL goal is to run an antelope hill 700c with honjo flat 65 fenders. Cantilever's offer nicer flexibility around fender clearance. I've been debating trying to fit my MAFAC tandem cantilevers. However I realize the enormous frame would create an exceedingly long cable run from the stops, which I have heard can cause stuttering/wobble under braking. Or if there was any complicated installation issues. Mafacs are not the most adjustable, but they sure look great and work pretty well once set up.  

I was curious if any of you have set up cantilevers on your clem (or similar really really tall rivs) and how your experience has been. Alternatively if you've been able to fit a V-brake with a large tire and fender, also please share. 

Photos encouraged, please and thankyou. 

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[Patrick Moore]

I've set up cantis on a frame with very long head and steerer tubes; the frame is only a 58 c-c but it is designed for 26" wheels, so the head and steerer are quite long. I found that cheaper, Tektro CR720s did make the fork shudder, though I fixed the problem by an almost ridiculous amount of pad toe-in; this of course made braking a bit weaker. I replaced the Tektros with Paul Neo Retros, same straddle cable in fact, and the shudder is so minimal and occasional that it doesn't bother me, who tend to fret about such things. The pads (same salmons) are now toed in normally.

My experience with Mafac cantis, both that designed for single bikes and the tandem version with longer arms is that they aren't particularly powerful -- at least, I couldn't get them so -- and that there's no toe-in provision. Adding it all up, if I were you, I'd certainly give it a try, but I'd be prepared to look for replacements too.

For record, the fork in question was not drilled for a crown-mounted housing stop.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Mackenzy Albright]

good information here!  I built an old apollo mixte mtb for my girlfriend and remember using one of those little pulleys. Not terribly complicated and they look kind of neat. I still need to find a wheelset before I get too ahead of myself - maybe I'll go for a quick rummage at the COOP one of these days.